"Raelynn. Wake up!" Kat screamed into my room.
It was Saturday, so I didn't have school, meaning she could have me for the entire day.
"Leave me alone" I groaned, pulling the blanket further over my head, as if that would protect me.
When her powers had been at their peak, I had obeyed her every word simply out of fear. But, now she wanted to play at not having them, and I was willing to go along with it, even if it meant that I got the crap beaten out of me for disobeying.
As expected, I heard her angry footsteps echo in my room as she approached my bed. She yanked the blanket off of me with more strength than most humans would have, followed by her quickly grabbing my hair and pulling so hard that I fell to the floor.
She released me as I fell, smirking down at me.
"What was that again?" She asked, tauntingly.
I silently glared at her. But that only lasted a few seconds before I felt her cold hand hit my cheek. Not only had I been glaring, but I had also been looking directly at her. I tested that limit each day, and learned more with each look.
"I told you, don't look at me!" She spat.
At a glance, one would think that she was truly beautiful. Her perfect olive skin, thin form with perfect curves, long brown hair that never even once tangled and flowed like air, and eyes as blue as a sapphire. Her and Jacey had the same dad, so Jacey also looked like that, though not quite as model-like. Their dad had died when Jacey was a baby, and our mom remarried, even though we all had been taught that she'd never be able to conceive a third child. 8 months later, low-and-behold, my mom was pregnant again. A miracle. Or a curse. Depending on who you ask.
Jacey had ignored me for as long as I could remember, but Kat would always be more than willing to spit her venom at me. And, with each short look, I learned why she hated me. She wasn't the daughter of Jacey's dad, and I was so close to learning the truth. All I would need was a little longer.
"I want breakfast!" Kat glared down at me.
"Then make some" I argued, wishing I could just crawl back into my warm bed.
She grabbed my hair again and pulled me up "Silly. That's your job."
I caught another 2 second look before she threw me to the ground. I knew that I would need to know the real truth about her if I really wanted any hope of fighting back against her, but she certainly wasn't making it easy for me.
She gave a soft laugh and walked out of the room.
At first I just sat on my floor, glaring at my doorway, almost wishing I could kill her. But, she was a human, and my families powers weren't made to be used against humans. If we did use them on a human, we would be transformed. We would become one of the dark beings.
Sighing, I forced myself to my feet, still feeling the sting from where my hair had been pulled and where her hand had landed on my cheek. I refused to cry anymore. I had done that for years. Facing her cruelty and her abuse, I had had no choice but to get tough. I wouldn't let her see me break down.
In the kitchen downstairs, Kat sat at the table, while a pan with some pancake mix sat next to the stove. Jacey was never in the house anymore, having left after her powers faded. From what I had heard, she had settled down with her long time boyfriend and was already expecting her first child. It would be a normal child, so it was best that the child had little to do with the rest of the family that still had powers. At least, it was most likely to be a normal child. Since my birth, every lesson our family had taught us had kind of been thrown out the window.
"Make them the way I like them" She smiled icily over her shoulder.
I kept my eyes away from her. I had already gotten my short looks in for the day, the next would have to wait a while before she would relax enough for me to look again.
I started for the fridge, pulling out the butter, milk, and eggs. Quickly getting to work, mixing the milk and eggs into the mix, with a fair amount of melted butter just to make it taste better, I then began the ladle it onto the pan, cooking each side to a perfect golden brown, then brought the plate of finished pancakes to where she sat at the table. Again, I kept my eyes down, she was already on her guard with me and one wrong move would earn me another slap. If not worse.
She cut into the food, made a satisfied moan, then went to work devouring the entire plate. I didn't know where she put all of it.
"Good job" she stated, her tone sounding almost like a warning.
I took the plate and started cleaning the dishes while she scrolled through her phone.
"By the way" she broke the silence after a minute "I'll be needing your powers later."
I stiffened. She had never once shown any true interest in my abilities, and I knew that there hadn't been any new portals appearing, since everyone in our family could sense it when one opened.
"You see, there's something I've wanted for a really long time, but without mine or Jacey's powers, I can't get it. But, you, even though you're already 17, still have your powers. So I need you to help me get it." she went on, clearly ignoring my tension.
"W-what is it?" I asked, my mind shooting off nervous warnings.
"My dad threw something into the lake nearby, something really important, but I can't get it on my own." I noted the way that she had said her dad, and not her and Jacey's dad.
"And it is?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
"A stone. A very powerful one. It's got the power to restore the powers of those who have lost theirs. So I want it."
It felt like the blood froze in my veins. Stones like that were created by the dark ones. It was the dark creatures' way of making sure that they could hold onto any power that they would need in this world that had no true magic source. The fact that one of these stones still existed in this world was a horrible sign.
"You'll help me, right?" I heard the ice layering her words.
"O-of course. We can't risk a normal person finding it" I tried to keep from shaking "we need to find it immediately and destroy it."
I felt something slam into the back of my head and I fell to my knees, seeing stars, as I heard her cold words.
"No way in hell we're destroying it. I want it for myself. Don't be a fucking moron."